Hebrews 6:3
And this will we do, if God permit.
"If God permit". It is essential that every believer who contemplates running the race, pressing for the prize, gaining the crown, and being numbered among those who are called "the perfect" should realize the meaning hidden behind the Apostle's words, "If God permit". The verses that follow are an explanation, speaking as they do of the impossibility of renewing again unto repentance those who, having tasted the heavenly gift, fall away. The type given later, of Esau, is very explicit.
Heb. 12:16-17 "Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of Repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears"
The only occurrences of the word "repentance" in Hebrews are in Heb. 6:1, Heb. 6:6, and Heb. 12:17. It is evident that the case of Esau is an amplification or an illustration of the case of those spoken of in Hebrews 6.
The words "If God permit" glance back to that period of Israel's history that has already provided the great basis of exhortation in Chapters 3 and 4, "the day of temptation in the wilderness." It will be remembered that, upon hearing the evil report of the ten spies, Israel murmured and said, "Let us make a captain, and let us return to Egypt." The Lord then bade Moses says: "As truly as I live . . . your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness . . . and the people mourned greatly." It would also appear that their mourning was in some measure repentance, for "they rose up early in the morning and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the Lord hath promised: for we have sinned. And Moses said. Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the Lord? but it shall not prosper. Go not up, for the Lord is not among you: that ye be not smitten before your enemies . . . But they presumed to go up unto the hill top . . . then the . . . Canaanites . . . smote them..." (Num. 14:28-45).
In the words "but they presumed," we have a parallel with the expression in Heb. 11:29, "the Egyptians assaying to do." This passage, together with those of Hebrews 6 and 12 causes one to pause and think of the seriousness of the lesson here being taught.
Turning to Philippians Three, it may be as well to observe another parallel before proceeding. In Heb. 6:6, there occurs that strong expression "having crucified again the Son of God and are exposing Him to shame," and again in Heb. 10:29, "having trampled on the Son of God, and having esteemed the blood of the covenant a common thing." So in Philippians 3 we have many walking as the enemies of the cross of Christ.
Returning for a moment to Numbers 14, we must remember that although that great multitude perished in the wilderness, they were a pardoned people. Moses had prayed
"Pardon, I beseech Thee, the iniquity of this people . . . and the Lord said, I have pardoned" (Num. 14:19-20).
Yet it was not possible to renew again unto repentance that people, pardoned though they were. If this had been remembered when dealing with Hebrews 6 many would have been spared the awful error that some have taught from this Chapter, namely, the possibility of a child of God losing his salvation. This epistle, as we have said again and again, and this Chapter particularly, deals with things that accompany salvation, things that belong to the perfect and the overcomer. These things may be lost or forfeited, but salvation is by grace, and works or rewards have no place in it.
"If God permit" therefore reveals that sometimes God may not permit. To attempt to ascend the mountain and enter the land of Canaan without the assurance of His presence was madness and destined to fail. Our first and greatest concern must be to walk with Him. If, for any failure on our part, the permission to go on unto perfection should be withdrawn, let us humbly bow to the will of God and, in lowliness of mind, seek the presence of the Lord. While we feel the crown and the prize will but add to His glory, and therefore we should run with patience the race set before us, the prize is valueless, the crown a bauble if it does not Glorify Him.
It is impossible to be too keenly sensitive to the serious nature of the failure dealt with in this chapter. To be "dull of hearing," to remain "a babe," to be satisfied with the "milk" of The Word, and to make no advance may seem bad but not serious. The inspired Apostle takes another view. To remain a babe is really to go back, and this may be the beginning of apostasy. Let us see how the Scriptures speak of those who failed to go on to perfection.
"It is impossible to renew them again unto repentance if they should fall away, having crucified again to themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame" (Heb. 6:6).
"If we should voluntarily sin after having received the full knowledge of The Truth, there remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins . . . having trampled under foot the Son of God" (Heb. 10:26-29).
We must distinguish between the fact that many, if not all, saints, after conversion, lapse into sin of one sort or another and the falling away intended here. It is the teaching of the Scriptures that if a man be overtaken in a fault, the spiritual ones of The Church must restore him in a spirit of meekness, considering themselves lest they also should be tempted Gal. 6:1. The exhortations to the seven churches of Revelation chapters two and three are further illustrations of the same truth. It is evident that here in the Epistle to the Hebrews, something more serious is involved.
"For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of holy spirit, and have tasted the good Word of God, and the powers of the coming age, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to open shame" (Heb. 6:4-6).
We must, first of all, seek to understand the nature of these blessings so that we may better understand the nature of the falling away from them.
(1) They were once enlightened (photizo). In chapter ten, this word occurs again, and the context is so helpful that we must draw attention to it. To save space, we will not quote fully:
"Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together . . . for if we sin wilfully after receiving the full knowledge of the truth . . . no more sacrifice . . . fearful expectation of judgment . . . consume the adversaries . . . trampled on the Son of God . . . but remember the former days in which having been enlightened ye endured a great contest of sufferings . . . cast not away your confidence, which has great recompense of reward . . . if any man draw back . . . we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them who believe unto the acquiring of the soul" (Heb. 10:25-39).
This is a valuable commentary, setting Hebrews 6 in its true light and preventing us from making erroneous applications of its solemn teaching. Some who do not realize the setting of Hebrews 6 have sought to minimize the force of the word "enlighten" so that it only means an external, but not a real, and inward illumination. If this is proven, then, of course, we are dealing merely with professors, and the problem is ended. But Heb. 10:32, wherein is the only other occurrence of the word photizo, does not allow for such an interpretation. These enlightened ones were believers, not empty professors.
(2) They had tasted of the heavenly gift. They were made partakers of holy spirit. These two statements explain one another. They moreover look back to the laying on of hands which usually was instrumental in the bestowal of this gift. It will be remembered that when "Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostle's hands holy spirit was given, he offered them money," and that Peter said, "Thy money perish with thee because thou hast thought that The Gift Of God may be purchased with money".
(3) They had tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the coming age. The promise of restoration from Babylon is thus called in Jer. 29:10.
"After seventy years be accomplished at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good Word toward you, in causing you to return to this place."
The miraculous gifts of the Acts were foretastes of the age to come. It will be seen that a great place is occupied in this list by the Holy Spirit and His gifts. This we find is likewise true of Hebrews. There, as we find in Hebrews 10, the punishment that followed the violation of the law of Moses is small when compared with that which shall follow the despising of the Holy Spirit's witness of Christ:
"How shall we escape if we neglect . . . which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him, God also bearing them witness both with signs and wonders and with divers miracles and distributions of holy spirit according to His own will? For unto the angels hath He not subjected the world to come whereof we speak" (Heb. 2:3-5).
One quotation from Hebrews 10 we now include, as bearing out the strong emphasis placed upon the Holy Spirit here - "and done despite unto the Spirit of grace" Heb. 10:29.
This falling away, which occupies so large a place in Hebrews, is variously referred to as "letting slip," "neglecting," "hardening hearts as in the provocation," "lest any fall under the same example of unbelief," "forsaking the assembling of ourselves together," "sinning willfully after full knowledge," "drawing back unto perdition."
The falling away was after enlightenment and partaking of holy spirit, and herein lies the extreme danger. This aspect of teaching in Hebrews is but the application to the Hebrews of the teaching of the Lord given in Matt. 12:21-32:
"All sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven to men, but the blasphemy of the Spirit shall Not Be Forgiven. And whoever may speak a word against the Son of man it shall be forgiven: but whoever may speak against the Holy Spirit, it will in no wise be forgiven him, neither in this age nor in the coming one".
Here is the sore punishment awaiting those who, after having all the confirmation of the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven and after having embraced the witness and having become partakers of the Spirit's gifts, fall away. They echo the fatal words of Numbers 14, appointing themselves a Captain to return to Egypt. The more one penetrates into the structure and atmosphere of Hebrews, the more marked the gracious distinctions of the Dispensation of The Mystery become. Let us try the things that differ and approve those things that are more excellent, at the same time learning from these other records the essential need for growth in grace.
"Things that Accompany salvation" (Heb. 6:7-9).
The character of the falling away of Hebrews 6:4-6 may be understood by a consideration of the illustration which immediately follows in verses 7 and 8. The figure is that of a field. The Greek word translated "earth," ge, stands for "land, as distinct from water; or earth, as distinct from heaven; or region or territory, used of one special land or country as distinct from other countries, in which peoples dwell, each on its own soil" (The Companion Bible, Appendix 129 / 4).
"For land which hath drunk in the rain which often comes upon it, and which bringeth forth vegetation useful to those for whom also it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; but that yielding thorns and thistles is disapproved and near to a curse; the end of which is for burning" (Heb. 6:7-8).
Two words are of special importance as indicating the line of teaching that we are to observe here, the word "disapproved," which in the A.V. is rendered "rejected," and the word "near" or "nigh" unto cursing. Adokimos = "disapproved" is best understood by observing the context of the word in 1 Corinthians 9:27. The scene is the Corinthian racecourse.
"Know ye not that they which run in a race course run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run that ye may obtain. But everyone that striveth in the games, in all things, useth self-control; They indeed then that a corruptable crown they may receive; but we an incorruptable. I therefore so run, as not uncertainly. I am boxing, as not beating air, but I am beating my body under, and leading it captive, lest by any means having proclaimed the contest to others, I myself should become disapproved" (1 Cor. 9:24-27).
The verses that follow, viz. 1 Corinthians 10, are very strongly reminiscent of Hebrews 3 and 4. The argument hinges upon the "all" and the "many." All may have passed out from Egypt as the redeemed of the Lord, but all did not enter the promised land. We now see that the whole of Hebrews six is dealing with the question of "going on unto perfection" or of being disqualified or disapproved in the race. The entry into the land of promise is placed in the same place as the crown at the end of the race. The showers of God's love and grace had fallen for many years upon Israel, but comparatively few brought forth fruit.
We must observe that it does not say that the alternatives are blessing or cursing, but blessing or disapproval, which places such nigh unto a curse. Take, for example, the two servants of Matthew 24:44-51. The one is rewarded by being made ruler over all his Lord's goods, and the other servant is cut asunder and finds his position with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The same fate awaits the unprofitable servant of Matthew 25, who hid his talent in the earth.
Both suffer loss and are certainly perilously "near unto a curse." In neither case is salvation in view but service. "The end of which is for burning." When a field produces thorns and thistles, "the end" is burning. The field itself is not destroyed but that which it has produced. This is quite in harmony with 1 Corinthians 3. The foundation remains unchanged whether the building is destroyed by fire or whether it stands the test:
"He shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet So As By Fire" (1 Cor. 3:15).
In Hebrews 12:16-17, Esau is brought before us as one who forfeited his birthright. There is an evident parallel with Hebrews 6, the words "he found no place of repentance" echoing "it is impossible to renew unto repentance." So also, the word adokimos (disapproved or rejected) is echoed by Hebrews 12:17, apodokimazo ("rejected").
The "blessing" also is one received "by inheritance." The Chapter ends with the words "For our God is a consuming fire," which are parallel with the words "whose end is burning" The whole situation is summed up in Hebrews 6:9, where the Apostle says:
"But beloved, we are persuaded The Better Things."
Readers will remember that the word "better" is a keyword of Hebrews, closely associated with "perfect" throughout the epistle. "The better resurrection" is expressed by the words, "The spirits of perfected righteous ones." Here in chapter 6, those who go on unto perfection produce the better things, "even those things which accompany salvation although we thus speak" (verse 9). The word "accompany" is a rendering of the middle voice of echo, "to have, to hold." So in Mark 1:38, "next towns," and Luke 13:33, "the day following." The epistle to the Hebrews does not deal with salvation but the things that accompany it. Not the "Resurrection of the dead" (Heb. 6:2) but the "Better Resurrection," not the exodus from Egypt, but the entrance of the land of promise, not justification by faith, but the emphasis upon the fact that the just shall live by faith. We find the distinction observed in Heb. 6:10 and throughout the Chapter. May we, called though we are with a different calling, produce the better things, even those things that "follow" or "go with salvation."
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Applying the Principles Of Right Division
Through the ages, there has been much confusion about the Way of Salvation just because most folks did not know what salvation was. They did not make any distinction between salvation, reward, entering The Kingdom, or being a member of The Church, which is The Body of Christ.
Examples: The dying malefactor (Luke 23:39-43). He was not asking about the way of salvation. He was already a believer. See his testimony. He was asking to be remembered in The Kingdom.
The rich young ruler (Luke 18:18-23 ). This one was asking what he must do to inherit eternal life. Now salvation does not come by doing something, neither does it come as an inheritance. Like the malefactor, this man was asking about a place, an inheritance in The Kingdom. He was already a believer.
Nicodemus (John 3:1-12). Nicodemus was already a believer but evidently wanted to know about The Kingdom, for the Lord answered the unasked question by saying that for a believer to enter The Kingdom, he must be born again or from above.
The Ministry of John. His message was, Repent ye: for The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. John is not telling them to get saved. He says nothing about salvation. He is preaching to Israel, God's chosen people, those who worshiped at The Temple and synagogue and believed in the God of Abraham. All these were to repent, for The Kingdom of Heaven was at hand. No need for a salvation message here.
The Ministry of the 12. During the time of the Gospels, they were to preach a message identical to that of John. We do not find one instance of them preaching to people who need salvation. Peter preached in the house of Cornelius, the Roman Centurion, but the group there were believers already. They were added to The Kingdom.
The case of Cornelius. In addition to the above, it was noted by the Christians in Jerusalem that God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life when Peter reported to them. At first thought, one would say that this was about salvation, but actually, they were saying that God had granted to the Gentile believers in the synagogues the same right as the Jews to find a place in The Kingdom of Heaven. They were grafted in.
The commission of Mark 16. At first glance, one would say that these apostles were to go to all the heathen world and proclaim a message of salvation as we think of it. It says that they did obey this command and that the signs followed. But as we said above, we find no instance of them preaching to any but Jews only (except Peter to Cornelius). So the salvation they proclaimed was an entrance into The Kingdom. Water baptism was required for this, but never for everlasting life, as we find it presented in John's gospel. So we find that oftentimes salvation speaks of entrance into The Kingdom. We must watch the context and rightly divide the Scriptures.
These few examples should put the reader on guard to search and see by Rightly Dividing Salvation and The Kingdom.
The question before us is; Did Paul ever preach anything besides the Dispensation of The Mystery?
If he did preach The Mystery during his entire ministry from Damascus to his letters to Timothy, then we have a few questions to ask. We also have some serious problems.
1. The commission given on the Damascus road had, as a part, to preach the things which he had seen. See Acts 26:16. And in this context, we find that he says that he is being judged for The Hope of The Promise made unto the fathers and in connection with the 12 tribes. This did not include The Mystery.
2. In the same reference, you will find that Paul was also to preach the things in which the Lord would appear unto him. He adds that he has done all this at that time. So whatever was revealed to him then had also been preached. He does say that the Lord appeared to him in Jerusalem (Acts 22:21). No doubt this was his first journey there after his conversion (Acts 9:26-30). This must have been a vision similar to that of Peter when he, too, was to preach to Gentiles (Acts 10:9-48). Was Peter also preaching The Mystery? At least at the council in Jerusalem, he said that he did first what Paul was doing among the Gentiles (Acts 15:7-11). Peter made mention of the fact in those verses that the Jews were saved the same as the Gentiles. Then James took the floor and said that what happened had been prophesied. Then how could it be a mystery or secret?
3. When Paul began his ministry, he proclaimed that Christ was The Son of God (Acts 9:20), and further, in Acts 9:22, he was proving to the Jews that the one they had killed was very Christ. If he were preaching a mystery hidden in God from ages and generations, how could he prove anything from the Scriptures?
4. In Acts 13:32-33, Paul declares that the promise God had made unto the fathers had been fulfilled. When the Jews rejected this Gospel, then in Acts 13:46, Paul tells them that he will turn to the Gentiles, just as Peter had done at Caesarea. Does this context have anything to do with The Mystery?
5. Something strange happened at Berea. If Paul had been preaching The Mystery hidden in God for ages and generations, how come the Bereans then looked into their Scriptures (the OT) to check to see if those things were so? Is The Mystery revealed in the Old Testament? If so, where?
6. There is something else in the life of Paul that is very strange if he were preaching The Secret during Acts. Acts 18:18 tells us that he made a vow and shaved his head, and went up to the Temple. Was all this in keeping with Col. 2:16?
7. When we turn to Acts 28:23, we find Paul speaking to the Jews for a whole day, arguing from the law of Moses and from the prophets. This is the last recorded message of Paul during Acts, but no hint that he yet knew or preached the Dispensation of The Mystery. Did he somehow find it in the OT?
The reader should study the Book of Acts and the Epistles of Paul written during that time (Galatians, Hebrews, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Corinthians, and Romans) and see if The Mystery is anywhere in evidence. The Berean spirit requires such study.
The Unique Aspects Of The Church Of The Mystery
All Spiritual Blessings. This is the first item we meet in the post-Acts epistles of Paul. Spiritual blessings have been mentioned before, but never with the qualifying word all. In his seven epistles written during Acts, Paul never uses the term. And it cannot be found among other writers. It is peculiar to the Dispensation brought in after Israel is set aside and the Salvation of God sent to the Gentiles. These blessings are now the inheritance of The Chuch of The One Body of Christ.
In Heavenly Places. Such a realm had been known even in OT times. But that mankind should enjoy all spiritual blessings there had never been heard of. Solomon knew of a Heaven of heavens. Daniel knew of realms far beyond. But that people should inhabit such places was not thought of. Mankind was made to inhabit and have dominion over the earth and its creatures. But in Ephesians, dominion extends much farther, and man has a part in it.
Before the Overthrow. All-purpose connected with The Kingdom on the earth, and the Dispensation of Promise had been spoken of since the overthrow of the world. But when we come to the Dispensation of The Mystery, we find an earlier purpose revealed. It has to do with a time before the overthrow. So, as far as the purpose of the ages is concerned, this term is peculiar to the Dispensation of The Mystery.
Seated Together. We are well aware that overcomers in the Earth program were promised to be seated with Christ on His throne. But that throne is here on the earth and is in connection with the ruling of the nations of the earth. But the fact that a people should be seated with Christ on His Father's throne in The Heavenlies was unheard of till we came to Ephesians. No one ever had this close association before.
The Both Made One. This has reference to Jew and Gentile. In the Dispensation of Promise, the Jew was first, and the Gentile could only share his blessings, which was not made possible until Acts 10. That a Dispensation in which the two were made one just never entered the mind of man till revealed in Ephesians. It is a part of The Mystery.
No Longer Foreigners. From the time the promise was made to Abram in Gen 12 till the end of Acts, the Jew was the center of God's activities, and it was through the seed of Abram that the earth was to be blest. So, all these centuries, the Gentile was a foreigner outside the Dispensation of Promise.
A Habitation of God. With all her privileges and rights, Israel never had the promise of being a habitation of God. The zenith of the Dispensation of Promise is in Rev 21:3-22. There, we find that God will Tabernacle with men and that there will be no need for a temple, for God and the Lamb will be The Temple of it.
The reader is invited to take the concordance and search and see if the above statements are true. If so, then there is only one place that we can call the dividing line between the Dispensation of Promise and that of The Mystery: Acts 28:28.
Acts 1:26
And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
From the earliest centuries of this era since Christ, the question has often come up as to whether Matthias was rightly chosen as one of the 12 or whether Paul was the one who should have had that place. The reason that the question comes up is that they do not know the Scriptures.
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